Lin Qingwan stepped forward to stop Jiang Shuqin. "Mom, look carefully. This is Xiao Li, your most beloved son, not Wang Yajun's child."
My most beloved son?
Jiang Shuqin paused, her hands trembling as she stared at the bloody scratches on Lin Li's face. Suddenly, clarity returned to her.
"Li'er, Mom mistook you for someone else. I'm so sorry," she said, her heart aching as she touched the wounds on his face.
Lin Li let out a sigh of relief.
It seemed the Lin family still didn’t know his true identity.
Thank goodness—it had just been a false alarm.
But why had Jiang Shuqin reacted so violently to his mother, as if calling her some kind of disgrace?
A terrible suspicion gnawed at Lin Li’s heart.
"Elder Sister, what exactly happened? Why did Mom react like that?"
Lin Qingwan hesitated, worried that telling Lin Li the truth would distress him.
But he would find out sooner or later.
Better to face it now than prolong the pain.
"Xiao Li, Dad... cheated on Mom," Lin Qingwan sighed.
No matter how hard she tried to rationalize it, she couldn’t believe it. Their father, who had always been so devoted to their mother, so principled—how could he have an affair?
And worse, she had worked alongside him at Starlight Group all this time, yet she’d never noticed anything between him and Wang Yajun.
"What?" Lin Li’s pupils constricted sharply. "Dad cheated?"
A realization struck him, and he urgently grabbed Lin Qingwan’s hand. "Who was the other woman? Mom mentioned Wang Yajun—was it her?"
"Yes, it was her," Lin Qingwan said, her brows furrowed. "Mom treated her like a sister, took pity on her because she struggled to care for her comatose husband, and even arranged for her to work at Starlight Group."
"But she turned out to be ungrateful, betraying Mom in the worst way."
Lin Li’s face drained of color.
His mother had been a crucial asset for him as the chairman’s secretary. If she was exposed for her affair with Lin Chang, she’d be forced out of the company.
His plans to take over Starlight Group would become infinitely harder.
"Elder Sister, what happened to Wang Yajun?" Lin Li pressed urgently.
"She was sent to prison—probably for several years," Lin Qingwan replied.
"What?" Lin Li’s eyes widened. "She was just Dad’s mistress! That’s a moral issue, not a criminal one. How could she be imprisoned?"
Even if Lin Chang had discovered his mother’s schemes at the company, he would have shown mercy for old times’ sake. He’d never have thrown her in jail.
So what had really happened?
Lin Qingwan’s voice was cold. "Her husband didn’t become a comatose patient by accident. She orchestrated the car crash that put him in that state. This is just retribution."
Lin Li staggered, barely able to stand.
His mother... was now in prison.
"Li’er, your reaction is... unusual," Lin Qingwan observed, her gaze fixed intently on him.
Lin Li snapped back to attention. He dug his nails into his palm, forcing himself to stay composed.
He couldn’t let the Lin family suspect anything about his relationship with Wang Yajun.
"Elder Sister," he forced a weak smile, "I’m just struggling to accept that Dad would cheat—and with Wang Yajun, of all people. Are you sure there’s no misunderstanding?"
"There’s no misunderstanding," Lin Qingwan shook her head. "Second Sister, Mom, and I saw them together with our own eyes. Dad even said... he wanted to divorce Mom and marry Wang Yajun."
Lin Li pressed his lips together.
There was no salvaging this.
"Then she got what she deserved," he said grimly.
"Elder Sister, why did you all suddenly go to Wang Yajun’s house?" Lin Li asked.
Something about this felt too coincidental.
He suspected foul play.
His mother was always careful—how could she have been caught so easily?
"It was Xiao Xuan," Lin Qingwan admitted reluctantly.
"Brother?" Lin Li stiffened. "What does he have to do with this?"
Lin Qingwan took a deep breath. "He was the one who took us to Wang Yajun’s house, saying he had a ‘show’ for us to see. Everything—her arrest, the exposure—it was all orchestrated by Xiao Xuan."
Lin Xuan again!
Lin Li clenched his fists.
Ever since Lin Xuan’s wedding to Qin Ruoyao, everything had spiraled out of control. Lin Xuan was slipping further and further from his grasp.
He had assumed that after leaving the Lin family, Lin Xuan would sink into obscurity, never to rise again.
But instead, Lin Xuan had attached himself to Su Hua, the wealthiest woman in Xia, founded his own company, Tianmu Group, and even ensnared Shen Qianqian’s affections.
Meanwhile, Lin Li had been disgraced—his engagement to the Shen family canceled, his reputation in tatters after the scandal with Qin Ruoyao.
He had been abducted, tortured beyond endurance, and left a eunuch.
And now, his mother was in prison.
How had this happened?
It was as if their fates had reversed—Lin Xuan should have been the one suffering, not him!
But it wouldn’t last.
Once the dark web operatives captured Lin Xuan, it would all be over for him.
Lin Li’s eyes darkened.
Shaking off his thoughts, he frowned. "Elder Sister, how did Brother even find out about Dad and Wang Yajun?"
"How else?" Lin Qingyan sneered. "He’s always resented our family. This was just his way of getting revenge."
"He was probably watching us the whole time, waiting for a chance to tear our family apart. And Dad’s affair was the perfect opportunity."
Her voice dripped with disdain.
Even if Lin Xuan had helped expose the homewrecker, his motives were impure. They owed him no gratitude.
"That’s enough, Second Sister," Lin Qingwan scolded.
Lin Qingyan scoffed.
She wasn’t wrong!
Why was Elder Sister snapping at her?
"Li’er," Lin Qingwan said gently, "Mom loves you the most. She’s been through so much—stay by her side and comfort her."
"Of course, Elder Sister," Lin Li nodded.
For the next two days, Lin Li dutifully attended to Jiang Shuqin.
Lin Chang never returned.
Gradually, under Lin Li’s care, Jiang Shuqin’s spirits lifted slightly.
"Li’er," she murmured tearfully, patting his hand. "I don’t know what I’d do without you here."
She was endlessly grateful she had brought him home all those years ago.
He was heaven-sent—her true son.
"Mom, don’t say that. I’m the one who should be grateful you adopted me and treated me as your own," Lin Li smiled.
Then, hesitating, he added quietly, "Mom... do you think what happened might be connected to what that fortune-teller said about Brother being a harbinger of misfortune...?"
He cut himself off, shaking his head. "Never mind. I must be overthinking it."
"Mom, I’ll go make you something to eat."
With that, Lin Li stood and headed to the kitchen.
transmigrates into the role of a villainous rich second-generation kid in an urban fantasy novel, and gets bound to a god-tier choice system. Right at the start, he catches the female lead stealing exam papers! This triggers the villain's choice options! [Choice 1: Pretend you didn't see anything] [Choice 2: Loudly call her out, drawing everyone's attention] [Choice 3: ...] And thus, a twisted villain is born. To avoid getting killed by the protagonist, he has no choice but to take down all the protagonists first. Jiang Che: Nobody understands being twisted better than me!
and couldn't return to the real world. Finally, I gave up and decided to go with the flow, only to discover that writing a diary could make me stronger. Since no one could read it, Su Luo wrote freely, daring to pen anything and everything. Female Lead #1: "Not bad. This diary helped me steal all the protagonist's opportunities. I just want to get stronger." Female Lead #2: "I don’t care about reaching the peak of the cultivation world. Right now, I just want to enjoy the chaos." Female Lead #3: "What? Everyone around me is a spy? I’m the Joker Demon Lord?" ... It’s so strange. Why is the plot completely off track, yet the ending remains the same? Are you all just messing with me?!
e bizarre and supernatural had descended. The previous emperor was a thoroughgoing tyrant; no longer satisfied with human women, he had set his sights on a stunningly beautiful supernatural entity. He met his end in his bedchamber, drained of all his vital essence. As the legitimate eldest son and crown prince, Wang Hao was thus hastily enthroned, becoming the young emperor of the Great Zhou Dynasty. No sooner had he awakened the "Imperial Sign-In Intelligence System" than he was assassinated by a Son of Destiny—a classic villain's opening. The Great Zhou, ravaged by the former emperor's excesses, was in national decline. The great families within its borders harbored their own treacherous schemes, martial sects began to defy the imperial court's decrees, and border armies, their pay and provisions in arrears, grumbled incessantly against the central government. Fortunately, the central capital was still held secure by the half-million Imperial Guards and fifty thousand Imperial Forest Army who obeyed the court's orders, along with the royal family's hidden reserves of power, barely managing to suppress the realm. As the Great Zhou's finances worsened and supernatural activities grew ever more frequent, the court sat atop a volcano. Ambitious plotters everywhere dreamed of overthrowing the dynasty, and even some reclusive ancient powers emerged, attempting to sway the tides of the world. At the first grand court assembly, the civil and military officials nearly came to blows, fighting tooth and nail over the allocation of fifty million taels of silver from the summer tax revenues. The spectacle opened Wang Hao's eyes—the Great Zhou's bureaucracy was not only corrupt but also martially proficient, a cabinet of all-rounders. Some officials even had the audacity to suggest the emperor release funds from the imperial privy purse to address the emergency. Wang Hao suddenly felt weary. Let it all burn.
ut it can buy an entire year of absolutely perfect training results! Su Yu stared at his empty wallet and decisively opened up various online loan platforms. “Borrow a thousand bucks! Recharge my vitality!” Boom! His vitality broke a hundred points, shattering the limits of the human body! “Borrow ten thousand bucks! Recharge my combat skills!” Boom! A basic punching technique so common it was everywhere instantly maxed out, revealing the ultimate assassination technique of Five Elements Unity—Inner Force! When a rich kid hired assassins for a midnight ambush, aiming to break both of his legs, they instead ran headfirst into a monster—a human-shaped tyrannosaur, brimming with dragon-like vitality. With just two fingers, Su Yu snapped a steel staff reinforced with alloy. Staring at the killer’s stash of stolen cash—a staggering quarter-million dollars—he showed a corporate-sincere smile: “Thanks for the pre-exam gift pack, Mr. Zhao! I’m gonna go re-invest this!” Three days later, at the National Martial Arts College Entrance Exam, while everyone else struggled just to reach the passing line, Su Yu threw a single punch—and more than a thousand vitality points literally detonated the entire arena!
